Sunday night was filled with custard, cold squid, cookies, and corn pancakes at Colicchio & Sons in New York City as restaurant industry leaders gathered to celebrate long-time friend Gerry Hayden.

The large contingency of star chefs were raising money in the fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the fatal illness known most commonly as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Mr. Hayden, the chef at North Fork Table and Inn, was diagnosed with ALS in January of 2011. Since then, he has raised more than $100,000 toward his own medical care and others who share his plight with his website and with the help of some of the same top-knotch chefs and restauranteurs he’s known and worked alongside during his years cooking in New York. (more…)